Greeting Groovers and Groove-ettes,

It's that bald guy again and this time I wanted to chat about an area of playing that has been my ultimate saving grace over the past few years. No, I am not talking about my dashing good looks or the fact that I am a "vicious" break dancer. By the way, those were both blatant lies. Actually I want to chat with all of you about the benefits of doubling or plainly said playing both electric bass and the ever elusive upright bass.

The "Double Groove" is how I describe my own place in this crazy industry we are in. That basically means I have made a fruitful career both on electric bass and upright bass. Granted, this was by no means an easy or rapid transition. I wanted to share the benefits and challenges with all of you on this strange phenomenon though. Because at one point we are sporting a stylin' 4 string and the next we are lugging an upright bass in a gig bag around that resembles a dead body and is just as precarious to move. Plus, it is REALLY BIG!

For me the transition to upright came late in my musical career but let me tell you, gang, that upright has paid as many if not more of my bills than electric. About a decade ago I was touring with The Mullet King (yes, Billy Ray) and I was really starting to crave something uprightish. At that time I had done zero, nada, zip, no playing on anything other than 34" or 35" scale basses, so the thought of a long scale bass made me go into massive convulsions. Even worse is when my throbbing would lessen from the brain hump I just received I would look at the price of a real string bass and I would return to the aforementioned state of non-coolness. Granted, I was touring but still there is that whole bill paying thing. Needless to say, I realized that the beginning of the transition would have to come from elsewhere.

After a bunch of research I realized that I might be interested in an electric upright bass. They obviously were easier to tote around and the price on at least a few of them seemed to keep me from needing the paddles on my heart. [CLEAR! Bzzzzzt!] I hooked up with one of my dearest friends, Mick Donner, who at the time was designing basses for Dean and he got me the prototype of one of their Pace basses to try. I soon found myself in the fascinating world of playing vertically and thought to myself "Self, this may not suck."

For the record, playing EUBs are interesting the first few times for many reasons. First, let me tell you that there are muscles in your neck you didn't realize you had that are going to ache. Second, it is quite bizarre walking up to this freestanding, futuristic hunk of whatever on a tripod. Even stranger is it takes you forever to figure what to actually do with your body. I took my upright out the first time in front of a packed theater and I actually felt naked because I didn't physically have a bass pressing against me. Darn good thing I wasn't naked for numerous reasons. A) I was playing with a Christian artist and B) It was cold.

My point to all of this mindless back story is this: Because of the sheer fact that I owned and played something that was upright-like my work immediately doubled. I now found myself bringing the "freaky bass" out on the road with Billy. Producers called me to bring the upright on sessions and I found myself primarily tracking it on the majority of the records I was recording. I was making money as an upright player. What a concept. It wasn't the sound of the real thing though so my journey continued as in my mind I was still just an electric guy.

The next step for me was getting over the 41" scale and arched fingerboard of a real string bass. To jump this hurdle I was lucky enough to end up with an NS Design 4 string upright. I had been doing some clinics with Ned Steinberger and after extensive chatting I started using his electric uprights. I was immediately pleased after getting my first NS that the longer scale wasn't as bad to adjust to as I had assumed. Of course Ned puts dots ALL over the thing which is awesome since my upper register can get pretty squirrely if I haven't been shedding. The arched fingerboard wasn't that bad of an adjustment either. Hallowed be thy name, I may be an upright player yet. If not, now I've got a longer freaky bass.

As the NS continued to serve me well and another few records were tracked my lifelong search for "MY" bass came to an end. In a pawn shop of all things I found the pride of my collection. It is a 1965 Ernst Heinrich Roth hand built in Germany and similar to the model used by the legendary Charles Mingus. She is astounding and sounds like GOD made it himself. The only problem was figuring out how to maneuver the flippin thing and transporting it and guess what? No dots, no nothing, and I had to learn this bass inside and out because I had committed to play it on a big budget record. Way to go, nimrod!

So after extensive cramming on the Roth I had to cut three days of master sessions for this record. Of course here I am fumbling with a new bass, one of the best engineers in Nashville staring at me, and legendary drummer Jerry Marotta in the room. To say I was feeling pressure about the impending doom that may be my intonation was an understatement. Praise The Jesus that I had been shedding, and the overall joy of the sound of that bass kept me grooving along. An even bigger surprise was that my intonation was strong and the grooves were fat and they all rejoiced! Now it looks like I'll even tour with those guys. Sure glad I didn't suck that weekend.

Right about now you are wondering what this obvious upright love fest has to do with doubling. Well, I went into all of the details so that you could see how the entire transition came to be. It wasn't easy, but by stepping through it the way I did, I immediately gained more work due to the fact that I was a "doubler". Trained bass players may actually start on upright but the majority of us started on some beater bass grooving on blues changes. (Still got that bass by the way and love me some twelve bar.)

The point to all of this is that if you want to get into upright bass there are realistic ways to do it. I can promise you if you put in the effort, it will pay off. For me, the primary artist I tour with is an upright gig. I wouldn't have that gig or the four albums we've recorded if I hadn't taken the necessary steps I mentioned. Guess what? She pays master scale, too, so I am quite pleased with my choice to double. Other examples are the wealth of stellar bass players that are known "doublers" like Brian Bromberg, Avery Sharpe, Roy Vogt, and John Patitucci. They are all incredible bassists and get work on both styles of instruments.

Don't be afraid, my grooving few. Get vertical and get paid. End of story.

Blessed Grooves,

S